Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Ray Shero, with his team in the midst of a 13-game winning streak, could've decided to sit back and see how it all plays out. Instead, he traded for Brenden Morrow from the Dallas Stars on Sunday, Douglas Murray from the San Jose Sharks on Monday, and in the coup de grace, Jarome Iginla from the Calgary Flames on Thursday.

As for the man who made the moves, Shero told reporters, “This doesn’t guarantee anything. Just that we have a good team and a good bunch of guys. Hopefully things come together.”

Such pragmatism is wise. There are still many ways that things could go sour for the Penguins, even after their GM’s bold moves.

THE HOT GOALIE

There is no more common way for a ballyhooed team to meet its demise in the playoffs than running into a goaltender who seemingly transforms into a brick wall for two weeks. It should concern the Penguins that if the season ended right now, their first-round matchup would be against a netminder with the ability to do just that — Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers had a .931 save percentage and 1.82 goals against average during last year’s playoffs.

Across the river from Lundqvist is another potential first-round opponent for the Penguins, the New Jersey Devils, who have Martin Brodeur on their side. Brodeur has won 12 of his last 17 starts against the Penguins, and if there is an upside to the 40-year-old having missed a month of this season with a bad back, it’s that he should be fresh for the playoffs. Brodeur has stopped 46 of the 50 shots he has faced since returning to the net.

Further down the line in the playoffs, there are other excellent goaltenders who are plenty capable of stealing a series themselves, including Carey Price (Canadiens), Jonathan Quick (Kings), and Tuukka Rask (Bruins), not to mention whoever winds up as the Vancouver Canucks’ goalie in the playoffs, or Pekka Rinne of the Predators, who are two points out of eighth in the West. Then, there’s always the chance of meeting up with Jaroslav Halak of the Blues, whose performance with the Canadiens in the 2010 playoffs almost singlehandedly ended the Penguins’ chances of a Stanley Cup repeat.

THE ACHILLES HEEL

The Penguins are not perfect, and the most glaring evidence of that is their No. 21 ranking in the NHL on the penalty kill, at 79.7 percent. If a team can get on the power play against Pittsburgh, and make the most of its chances, that could be enough to swing a playoff series.

No team has drawn more power play opportunities from its opponents this season than the Canadiens, whose conversion rate of 20.7 percent ranks ninth in the NHL thanks to a dangerous point duo of Andrei Markov and P.K. Subban. The good news for the Penguins is that of the 10 teams in the NHL who have a 20 percent or better success rate on the power play, half (Capitals, Flyers, Oilers, Islanders, Flames) are out of playoff position, while the Ducks and Blues are way out West. The three Eastern playoff contenders who are most dangerous with the man advantage are the aforementioned Canadiens, the Senators, and the Penguins themselves.

THE OTHER JUGGERNAUT

There’s still the matter of the fact that the Penguins only have the second-best record in the NHL, as the Chicago Blackhawks — remember them and their half a season without a regulation loss? — are 25-4-3 and still their own trade-deadline upgrades still ahead.

The Penguins have their superstars in Crosby and Evgeni Malkin; the Blackhawks have Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. The Penguins have an elite scorer in James Neal; the Blackhawks have Marian Hossa. For every Chris Kunitz there’s a Patrick Sharp, and for every Kris Letang, there’s a Duncan Keith. The Penguins have slightly better forward depth; the Blackhawks have slightly better defensive depth, and it shows in their respective season scoring margins of 117-84 and 108-71. Goaltending may be a wash, with both Marc-Andre Fleury and Corey Crawford having stellar seasons but also questions to answer after sub-.900 postseason save percentages a year ago.

The Penguins, on paper, might appear to have a edge, but the Blackhawks play in what appears to be the tougher conference. Should the Penguins get to the Finals without Chicago lining up against them, they should be aware that any team good enough to beat the Blackhawks is good enough to beat them.

Enter the Los Angeles Kings, the defending Stanley Cup champions and No. 1 possession team in the NHL in 2013. The Kings’ Corsi percentage — the ratio of their shot attempts at 5-on-5 to their opponents’ tally — is 57.5 percent, an incredible 2.9-point margin on the East's top team in that regard, the Bruins. The Kings also have the NHL’s highest rate of offensive zone faceoffs, at 36.2 percent, and as the seventh-best team in the league at winning draws, that means Los Angeles has the puck quite often in its opponents’ end of the ice.

Go back to last year’s playoffs, and this was part of the Kings’ recipe for success. Even though Los Angeles was constantly playing with the lead, the Kings still had an average shots-on-goal margin of plus-3.6. By continuing to apply pressure, Darryl Sutter’s team has posted an .857 winning percentage this season in games where they have scored first, second in the league to the Blackhawks’ .882 mark. And the Kings are two spots higher in the Western Conference standings now than they were when they embarked on their Cup run a year ago.

THE UNTHINKABLE

Fleury has a neck injury, and will miss Thursday’s game. Malkin has not played since March 9 due to a shoulder injury. Letang returned from injured reserve on Tuesday and promptly broke his toe. The players the Penguins added in their big swoop are 33 (Murray), 34 (Morrow), and 35 (Iginla) years old. The Penguins’ biggest enemy might be their own health, and coming up against a physical opponent, or even just one cheap-shot artist (there are some playoff-bound teams with those, and you don’t have to think too hard to remember who they are) could spell trouble.